Mrs. Patience Jonathan
Wife of the President, Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, on Sunday denied a statement credited to Governor Rotimi
Amaechi of Rivers State that she asked him to share the state’s funds
with her.
Amaechi had while speaking
in Port Harcourt at the joint graduation of the students of the
University of Ibadan and pioneer graduates of Ignatius Ajuru University
of Education, on Saturday was quoted as saying that his problem with
Mrs. Jonathan started after he rejected her demand.
“I
refused to give them money in Abuja because if I do that, I won’t be
able to carry out any development project or finish the road from
Rumuolumeni to Rumuepirikom.
“The
quarrel between me and the wife of the President is because she said I
should bring your money, Rivers people, money and share with her,” the
governor reportedly said.
But Mrs.
Jonathan, in a statement by her media assistant, Mr. Ayo Adewuyi, said
Amaechi’s statement was a deliberate attempt to malign her and score
cheap political point.
She further described the governor’s statement as a lie designed to denigrate her person and rubbish the Presidency.
She said she could not have made such a request from the governor either directly or indirectly.
The
statement read, “Having waited patiently for Governor Amaechi to refute
the statement credited to him about the First Lady, (with the
assumption that he was misquoted), it has become clear that it was a
deliberate attempt to malign Dame Patience Jonathan and score cheap
political point.
“The governor may
have been beclouded by the political uncertainty surrounding him to make
such a jaundiced and unsubstantiated allegation that the First Lady
asked him to bring Rivers State’s money to share.
“This
is a blatant lie designed to denigrate the person of Dame Patience
Jonathan and rubbish the Presidency. This is to say the least, most
unfortunate.
“It is crystal clear
that Governor Amaechi is looking for a cheap excuse for his failure in
the governance of the state. We say without any iota of equivocation
that the First Lady never made such a request and could not have done so
in any way either directly and indirectly.
“The
First Lady as an indigene of Rivers State is more concerned with the
socio-economic development of the state and in a peaceful atmosphere.
This guerrilla political warfare must stop.”
Source- Punch
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